This invention relates to removing bile salts from a patient.
Sequestering and removing bile salts (e.g., cholate, glycocholate, glycochenocholate, taurocholate, and deoxycholate salts) in a patient can be used to reduce the patient's cholesterol level. Ion exchange resins which, when ingested, remove bile salts via the digestive tract, have been used for this purpose. Removal of bile salts will cause the body to prepare more bile salts. Because the biological precursor to bile salt is cholesterol, the metabolism of cholesterol to make bile salts is accompanied by a simultaneous reduction in the cholesterol in the patient.